Chapter 27 27
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!
Tenku was caught off guard and blown away by the explosion's impact, sending him flying dozens of meters until his body hit one of the trees in the forest.
"Ugh!" Tenku feels pain in his back. He didn't expect an attack from the lowest-ranked Phantasmal Object to be so terrifying.
"What the hell is that!? Shouldn't this gun be an F-rank Phantasmal Object? Then how can it create such a destructive power!?" Tenku looked in shock at a large crater a size of a dozen meters not far from where the portal appeared.
When Tenku aimed his gun at the skeleton king, the shot missed. Its trajectory shifted downwards and hit the ground. Unexpectedly, the attack instead of pierced through the skeleton king's body and made an explosion of that magnitude instead.
Not only the skeleton soldiers and captains, even the skeleton generals and skeleton kings caught in the explosion died instantly. It showed that the attack was enough to kill a fourth-level monster or even injure a fifth-level monster.
"Was the reason this Phantasmal Object had the lowest rank because of the huge compensation to be paid to unleash such a powerful attack? If you only use genesis power, the firepower of this gun is very weak and can't even hurt first-level monsters. But the attack becomes much stronger if I use the monster core as a bullet. In other words, the greater the damage, the greater the cost to be paid." Tenku muttered and looked at the Golden Revolver in his right hand.
Tenku was happy that he had a new weapon to use in the future. Moreover, it was a long-range attack weapon that was very useful in the battle against monsters. It was something he had been lacking until now. But at the same time, his heart bled when he recalled using the core of a fourth-level monster as his ammunition.
All parts of a monster's body have multiple uses, and especially its core. It can be used as fuel for specific engines or as raw material for potions, elixirs, and genetic serums. In addition, monster cores can also be used to increase the genesis power of a Realizer and raise their phase to a higher level.
Increased genesis power can be done using a machine called Genesis Injector. The process and effects are the same as a Realizer after killing a monster. The device is available at the branch of every organization. Of course, the cost of using it is terrible.
So certain Realizers can still increase their power without coming to the location of space collapse and fighting monsters because it is dangerous. The higher the level of the monster core, the more genesis power it contains.
A fourth-level core is enough to increase the strength of three Realizers from the comet to the meteor phase. It showed how valuable a monster core was. The price of a Fourth-level monster core on the market was 500,000 Antier or the equivalent of 500 million Yen. Antier is the digital currency that Realizer uses globally. 1 Antier is 1000 Yen.
"Haa… There's no point in me regretting that. I shouldn't use this weapon too often in the future. Otherwise, I will be poor. I will only use this weapon when the situation is urgent." Tenku sighed and shook his head to get rid of that thought.
The portal had closed, and the space collapse had ended not long after the monsters were wiped out. Tenku canceled his Phantasmal Object manifest and walked towards the crater to collect the loot. When he arrived at the place, his face became ugly after seeing the scene in front of him.
"How can all the monster cores be crushed to nothing!? Just how strong was the destructive power of that attack?" Tenku smiled bitterly and looked around for valuable items. Because the explosion wasn't far from where the portal opened, almost all the precious gems and medicinal herbs were destroyed. It adds a wound to Tenku's heart. So he could only take the remaining valuable items.
Fortunately, the dimensional stone was not damaged by the explosion. In addition, the bones of the skeleton general and the king were also not crushed. The difference between the four types of skeletons was the color of the bones. White for soldiers, gray for the captain, silver for the general, and gold for the king.
"Okay. Stop regretting what happened. I better save all of this before the Realizers arrive." Tenku stored the bones of the skeleton general, skeleton king, and dimensional stone in his space pocket. He also took some medicinal herbs and gems safe from the explosion.
After Tenku finished retrieving all the valuable items, he heard footsteps approaching the place. When he looked back, Tenku found a team of Realizers with a dozen members wearing full combat gear coming from the direction of the forest entrance.
The Realizers became alert when they saw a suspicious person with a mask covering his face appear at the location where the space collapse was about to occur. Moreover, the massive crater in front of them made their instincts scream. The Realizers felt that Tenku was a dangerous person.
The people on the team were ready to manifest their Phantasmal Objects and fight Tenku. But before they could do that, a young man walking in front of them raised his hand to stop them. He looks like the leader of the team.
"Who are you? What are you doing in this place?" The team leader asked politely.
"Of course, killing monsters. What else should I do in a place like this at night?" Tenku said in a slightly hoarse voice to disguise his identity.
"What!?" The team leader and his members were shocked when they heard Tenku's answer.
"Are you saying that the space collapse has occurred and you have annihilated the monsters?" the team leader narrowed his eyes and added another question.
"Didn't you ask something you already knew the answer to? But if you want to hear it directly from me, I will answer it. I had exterminated those monsters without a single one remaining." Tenku replied nonchalantly.
"Impossible! You cannot handle a space collapse at disaster level alone and succeed without getting hurt unless you are a Realizer with the powers over the Planetary phases. But I know those Realizers, and no one looks like you!" One of the realizers shouted in disbelief.
The rest of the team nodded and agreed with his words. If Tenku's powers were in the planetary phase, he wouldn't go unnoticed and instead appear in a space collapse location with a low threat level.
"I have told the truth. You want to believe it or not, that's your business. If nothing else, then I will take my leave now." Tenku shrugged his shoulders and didn't care about their thoughts. When he turned around and was about to leave the place, a voice stopped him.
"My name is Daisuke Okamoto. I'm from the Tokyo branch of the holy union organization. They are members of my team, and we are carrying out the mission of our organization. May I know your name?" Daisuke asked, and his previous polite demeanor still didn't change.
"My name doesn't matter. I'm just a Realizer who came to this place to kill monsters. Apart from that, there's nothing else you need to know." Tenku was willing to answer after seeing Daisuke's attitude. Even so, he would not reveal his identity to others.
On the other hand, Daisuke frowned upon hearing Tenku's answer and recalled a famous Realizer who had become a topic of conversation in the organization in recent years.
"Are you The Reaper? An illegal Realizer who uses a large scythe-shaped Phantasmal Object and comes to the site of space collapse to slaughter monsters?" Daisuke intends to confirm his guess.
"What!?"
"He is The Reaper!?"
"Impossible!"
Daisuke's team members became noisy after hearing his words. Some were shocked, some couldn't believe it, and the rest were scared.
"I don't know The Reaper you mentioned in your words. But if it's a Realizer with a scythe that slaughters monsters at a space collapse location, it's me." Tenku honestly admits it.
His answer made Daisuke's team members wary. Even though Tenku only slaughtered monsters, he was an illegal Realizer and was considered dangerous by the organization.
"You are indeed The Reaper. Can you come to our organization's branch office? We just wanted to ask you a few questions about the space collapse here. If we returned empty-handed without evidence, our superiors would not believe that we had completed the mission, no matter what excuse we gave. Moreover, you have taken all the valuable items in this place." Daisuke smiled bitterly as he looked at his surroundings.
"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse your request. I don't have time right now because I have to go home. My family is waiting for my return." Tenku gave a false answer and hoped that Daisuke thought he was a middle-aged man with a family.
"In that case, I will have to use force to bring you back with us to the organization's offices." Daisuke said, and his mood changed. Then he manifested his Phantasmal Object in the form of a sword.
"Ready to fight!" Daisuke gave the order, and his team members quickly did the same with him. Their Phantasmal Objects were varied but primarily spear-shaped. After that, they formed a formation to surround the Tenku.
"Give up! No matter how strong you are, you must be exhausted after fighting those monsters alone. You won't be able to beat us in your current state!" Daisuke tries to persuade Tenku to give up.
"Is that so?" Tenku suddenly disappeared from their sight and reappeared right next to their leader with a sharp piece of bone in his hand aimed at Daisuke's neck.
"I don't have time to play with you right now. But if you insist on getting in my way, I won't hesitate to slaughter all of you and make you all suffer the same fate as those monsters." Tenku said coldly, and his figure completely disappeared from the place.